Razor blade sharpener



Oct. 29, 1935. v J, B WALSH 2,018,985

RAZOR BLADE SHARPENER Filed Sept. 13, 1932 A Tiro/e V5 Patented Oct. 29, 1935 UNITED STATES RAZOR BLADE SHARPENER John B. Walsh, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to Mergenthaler Linotype Company, a corporation ol' New York Application September 13, 1932, Serial No. 632,901

6 Claims. (Cl. 51-204) This invention is directed to an improved sharpening or burnishing tool for reconditioning safety razor blades after they have become dull or uni-lt for use. In use, the keen hollow ground cutting edge of a safety razor blade becomes frayed, sections of the edge bending'or tending to curl, some toward one side of the blade and others toward the opposite side of the blade, and to recondition or shapen the blade l0 it is necessary to bend the sections back into alinement. Ordinarily, tools for effecting this alinement are made up of one or more pairs of cylindrical or spherical hard smooth-surfaced elements which are either rigidly or resiliently clamped or otherwise held together in peripheral contact so that each pair will present opposed convex surfaces which define a groove or recess thru which the blade to be sharpened is drawn manually. The periphery of each element is of the same curvature as the hollow ground cutting edge of the blade, so that as the latter is drawn between the elements a section of the surface of each will flt snugly within the hollow ground sides of the cutting edge of the blade. In sharpening the blade, it is drawn between the sharpening elements, which effect a burnishing or alining action to straighten out the minute irregularities of the frayed cutting edge of the blade and thus restore it to the state of perfection required.

According to the present invention, the sharpening or alining elements of the tool, instead of being arranged in separate pairs, are grouped together in such manner that each element presents two sharpening or alining surfaces in contact with the corresponding sharpening or alining surfaces of two adjacent elements. As a result, the capacity of a tool having more than one pair of sharpening elements is doubled and the utility of the tool increased accordingly. For example, a tool (such as herein shown) having but three sharpening elements presents a choice of three grooves thru which the blade may be drawn, while one equipped with four elements would present four grooves, and so on, there being as many grooves as therev are sharpening elements employed;

In the preferred'embodiment illustrated, the three sharpening elements of the improved tool are cylindrical in form and all are held in their proper positions by means of a common centrally located boltl and a pair of binding clips arranged at the opposite ends of said elements.

In the accompanying drawing, the invention is shown merely in preferred form, and obviously many changes and variations may be made therein without departing from its spirit. For example, the sharpening elements, instead of being cylindrical, could be spherical, semi-spherical, or semi-cylindrical in form, and while they 5 are preferably arranged in surface contact, they need not necessarily be so arranged. Further,

it might be desirable that the alining elements be slightly abrasive so that their action would be twofold, although it is preferable that the 10 tool effect a burnishing action only rather than a combined burnishing and abrasive action. It should be understood, therefore, that the invention is not limited to any specific form or embodiment, except insofar as such limitations are 15 specified in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of the improved sharpening tool;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the tool; 20

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the several parts of the tool in unassembled condition.

As shown, the improved sharpening tool A in- 25 cludes three cylindrical sharpening or burnishing elements A (preferably made of steel) of a given uniform diameter and having smooth exterior sharpening surfaces a. In the present instance (see Fig. 3), the sharpening elements A are 30 arranged side by side with their longitudinal axes parallel and are grouped together so that the curved exterior surface a of each is in contact with the corresponding surface of each of the other two elements. As herein illustrated, the sharpening elements are held together by a pair of triangularly shaped clips B having lateral lugs or fingers b which engage in 4conical re cesses a formed centrally in the opposite ends of the sharpening elements. 'Ihe clips B, formed 40 with centrally located holes b', are clamped in place by a single connecting bolt B passing thru the central vtriangular space defined by the sharpening elements and whose shank portion is supported at its opposite ends in the holes b. The bolt B is provided with a knurled thumb nut B2 which reacts against one of the clips B and is adapted when tightened up to hold the different parts of the tool in their assembled positions, the recesses a in the sharpening elements, because of their conical form, serving to position said elements in proper cooperative relation.

As thus constructed, the tool `A presents three grooves a2 defined by convex side walls or sha-rp- 55 ments A and any one of which is adapted toi/ftY the hollow ground cutting edges of the standardA safety razor blades. Moreover, whenever the surfaces of the elements which dene the grooves become worn or otherwise unfit for use, they may be instantly renewed by merely loosening the thumb nut B 2 and partially rotating the alining elements A to bring new portions thereof into cooperative relation.

As will be evident, the tool is extremely simple, compact, easily assembled, and also cheap to manufacture.

Having thus described my invention, what I' claim is:

1. A blade sharpening toolV comprising three sharpening elements having curved exterior sur-` faces and grouped together with the outer surface of each element in contact with the outer surface of each of the other two elements, a pair of clips engaging the opposite ends of said elements for holding them in their proper cooperative positions, and a bolt for clamping the clips in place.

2. A sharpening tool as specified in claim 1, characterized by the fact that the clamping bolt passes through the central space defined by the sharpening elements.

3. A blade sharpening tool comprising three, or more sharpening elements having curved exterior surfaces and formed in their opposite ends with recesses, a pair of clips formed with fingers engaging in said recesses, and a bolt for clamping the clips in place so as to hold the curved surface of each sharpening element in contact with the corresponding surfaces of the two adjacent elements.

4. A sharpening tool as specified in claim 3, 5

characterized by the fact that the recesses therein referred to are cone-shaped, so that the fingers of the clips serve to draw the sharpening elements together into contacting relation.

5. A blade sharpening tool comprising three or more sharpening elements having curved exterior surfaces and grouped together with the outer surface of each element in contact with the outer surface of each of two adjacent elements, leaving an open space between the group of elements, 15 and means for holding said elements in their grouped relationship, said means comprising a bolt passing through the open space between the group of elements and connecting opposed members associated with each of said elements.I

6. A blade sharpening tool comprising three or more sharpening elements having curved exterior surfaces and grouped together with the outer surface of each element in contact with the outer surface of each of two adjacent elements, and 25 means for holding said elements in their grouped relationship, said hol'ding means comprising means associated with opposite sides of said elements and connecting means therefor, the holding means being releasable to render the elements 30 adjustable relatively to each other to bring new sharpening surfaces into use, when desired.

JOHN B. WALSH. 

